Bag filling and weighing machine



July 28, 1931. H. s. JOHNS 1,816,587

' BAG FILLING AND WEIGHING' MACHINE Filed 0G13. 5. 1929 [ru/Enlaz- Henrg 5f Jah ns Patented July 28, 1931 HENRY sTINsoN JOHNS, or HAHILTON, oNTARIo, HOLDINGS LIMITED, 'or HAMILTON ONTABI ONTARIO cANADA, AssIeNon To BANcnorT camina, A. CORPORATION or me FILLING' AND WEIGHING nAcHINE application med manner s, 192s., sei-m1 No. 397.609.

My invention relates to improvements in bag filling and weighing machines, and the ob ect of my invention is to construct a machme of this 'type which is particularly adapted for handlinggranular material such as dry plaster in which coarse substances such as tained.

The standard machines in general use utilize a flipper'r swinging blade mechanism as the means for delivering the powdered material from the machine hopper into the'bag and whilst these machines are quite satisfactory for the purpose of delivering powdered or similar material they are unsultable for the delivering of granulated material 1n which crushed stone or other pieces of comparative large size are contained, as the blades of theflipper become very quickly damaged v through recurrent contact with the larger pieces of material contained in the powdered or granulated material.

To overcome this objection and to provide a positive and sturdy device I utilize a screw conveyer and nozzle as the means kfor feeding the material' from the-hopper into the bag.l and also provide a bag supporting mechanism whereby the bag being filled 1s at no time suspended from the nozzle. It is to be understood, of course that the bags used for this purpose' are of` the self sealing type wherein a small orifice is provided in one of the upper corners of the bag for the reception of the delivery nozzle. L l Another object of my invention 1s to so mount mv screw conveyer that it freely extends through the bottom of the hopper and I the nozzle without bearing support so that the material has an unobstructed passage through the nozzle and whereby the material in being fed through the nozzle in itself constitutes a bearing for the conveyer, such conveyer being permitted a flexible movement so that it centres itself within the material passing through the nozzle. Another object of my invention is to utilize such unsupported screw conveyer as a vibratory means for shaking down any material that may become lodged upon the sides or in the corners of gravel or finely broken stones are conthe hopper when the residuematerialis being removed from the hopper.

A further object of my invention is to provide a construction wherein nozzles and screw conveyers of various diameters may be replaced within the bottom of the hopper.

A still further object of my invention is y to so construct the ba supporting member of m device that `it t1lts and adjusts itself in re ation to the nozzle as the material is gradually fed thereinto, and a further object of mi invention is to provide a means vwhereby t e bag supporting member is finally tilted so that it removes the bag from the nozzle and delivers such filled bag upon a receiving conveyer or bench.

y invention, consists of a bag filling and weighing device constructed and arranged all as hereinafter more particularly described 4 and illustrated in the accompanying drawin s, in which igs. 1, 2 and 3 are three similar side elevational views of my device showing the bag as it is placed onA the machine to be filled, showing the bag partially filled, and also showing it after it is filled and being delivered.

Fig. 4 is a perspective viewv of my device.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view through a fragmentary portion of my'device showing le resilient part of the bag supporting mem- Fig. 6is a verticallongitudinal view through a fragmentary portion of the hopper and also through the material delivery nozzle.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a fragmentary portion' of the jointed elbow rod adapted to support the bag supporting member, and L Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken through the line 8 8, Fig. 6.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding vparts in the different views.

The bag supporting portion of my device is mounted upon a standard weighing scales l, so that the material passing from the device into the bag is weighed, and a suitable electrical control is made' between the movable portion of the scales and the motor for actuating the screw conveyer whereby the motor Y stops when a certain predetermined weight 'of material has been delivered into the bag.

Upon the Stand 2 of the scales I mount a pair of substantially A-shaped frames 3 which are supported in spaced apart relation and connected by cross members 4 and 5, the cross member 5 being positioned intermediately of the height of the frames 3 and is adapted to receive the bag supporting member which is hingedly mounted thereon.

The bag supporting member consists of a bottom platform 6 and back portioni' together with side members 8-wh1ch are attached to the edges of the bottom and back member, lthus. formlng an open front and' open ltop receptacle. The bag supporting member extends upwardly from the cross' member 5 to a point directly underneath the delivery nozzle 9 and normally lies in a rearwardly inclined position as illustrated 1n Fig. 1.

As it is very often required from timeto timeto fill bags of various capacities I propose to so construct my bag supporting member that it is capable'of adjustment and to attain this end I intend to movably mount `the back portion 7 and side members 8 upon .the platform 6, and also to permit theheight of the platform 6 to be adjusted I mtend to adjust-ahy mount the cross member 5 so that it may be moved either up or down the frames 3. I do not deem it necessary to illustrate or 'describe my adjustable means as such practice is common in many types of machines and can be readily constructed by those skilled in the art, for example by the use of lill adjusting screws.

10 is the hopper of my .device for containing the material which is being filled into the bags and such hopper follows general conventional practice in design. That is, 4its sides slope downwardlyfrom a comparatively large top to a comparatively narrow bottom 11. Extending longitudinally of this bottom I furnish a screw conveyer 12 which is containedV within the nozzle member and projects into the nozzle proper 9 thereof. The nozzle member is of unitary form comprising the nozzle 9 and aselni-cylmdrical portion 90 the diameter of which is approximately the same as the distance between the lower edges of the side walls of the hopper so that a joint is made therewith as illustrated in Fig. 8,-the nozzle 9 extending into an orifice 91 in the front wallof the hopper. The rear end 92 of the semi-cylindrical portion is of circular form and fits the semi-circular lower edge 93 of the back'wall of the hopper. 'For retaining the nozzle member 90 in place I furnish a pluralityof straps 94. which extend between angle members 95 secured to the outer faces of the lower portions of the side walls of the hopper, such straps extending around the nozzle member 90. Upon the front wall of the hopper surrounding tlie orifice 91 I provide a plate 96 having an orifice therein of the same diameter as the' nozzle 9 and which is secured to the front wall of the hopper by bolts 97.

If it is desired to replace the nozzle member and screw conveyer b a nozzle member and screw conveyer of sma ler diameter I furnish such smallei nozzle member 98 as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 8 with lianges 99 which extend to the bottoms of the side walls of the hopper and compensate for the reduced diameter ofthe smaller nozzle member. I also then furnish another plate 96 having a smaller orifice therein corresponding in size to the diameter of the smaller nozzle 9. The upper portions of the end plates 92 of the various sized nozzle members are of a standard diameter to fit the back wall of the hopper. It will thus be seen that my nozzle members and screw conveyers can be very readily replaced.

The rear end of the screw conveyer 12 is connected to the forward end of a drive shaft 99 which extends through an orifice 100 in the end plate 92 of the nozzle member, and as a connecting means between the screw conveyer and such drive shaft I utilize a flexible connection oruniversal 'oint 101 of an57 standard construction such as lllustrated wherein a fabric centre disc is provided and to which cross members upon the screw conveyer and shaft are attached. By this construction the screw conveyer is freely mounted within the nozzle member having a certain amount of play within the nozzle 9`which is necessarily of a slightl larger interior diameter than the diameter o the conveyer screw. )As the material is passed alon the nozzle by the conveyer such conveyer rides in the material in the nozzle and centres itself as the material forms vibration through the opper which s down any remaining materlal which may become lodged within corners or upon the sloping sides of the hopper.- The production of this vibration is an important feature as in machines where dry plasters of different tints are being bagged it is essential that the plaster of one particular tint be entirely cleaned out of the hopper before another plaster of di'er'ent tint is inserted.

My screw conveyer has also a particularly important secondar function in that it constitutes an agitator or the'material contained in the hopper as well as a conveying means. As powdered or granulated material is dropping down the converging sides of a hopper it is very apt to cake and become lodged over the conveying means. It is therefore customary to provide an agitating device within the hopper in order to contained therein from my device, however, my screw conveyer constltutes in itself an agitator, for as soon as the material starts to cake and stops feeding into the conveyer, such conveyer immediately commences to vibrate and sets u a vibration through the hopper which immediately shakes the material down so that to all intents and purposes there is a continuous feeding of the material irrespective of its tendency tocake as the necessary momentsy of vibration if any are momentar The drive shaft 99 is connected to an elec-A trical motor 14 and contained within a pair Eerevent the material coming caked. In

of bearings 15. The motor and shaft assem-l bly are supported upon a pair of longitudi.

nally extending members 16 which are supported by a. air of plates 118 connected to the bottom o 'the hopper. The forward end f 17 of my delivery nozzle 9 is formed at an angle so that the orifice therein is presented downwardly as will be clearly seen upon reference to the drawings. The forward end of the screw conveyer projects into the vicinity of such end 17 so that the delivery material v can never become packed within the nozzle as is free to bend up it remains within the conveyer until it is on the int of dropping out of .the nozzle.

Thi? bag supporting member which is hingedly mounted in the vicinity of its rear Vedge upon the frame cross member 5 is supported by an angularly inclined elbow rod 18 which is in two parts and hin edly connected at the centre as illustrated in ig. 7 so that it wardly as illustrated in such figure, but retained against bending in the opposite direction. This is attained by forming a groove 19 in one abutting portion of the rod and a fiat piece 20 in the other abutting portion of the rod, such flat piece being contained within the groove, the ends of the groove and the flat piece being inwardly inclined as illustrated so that the rodis free to bend in one direction but not in the other.

Between the rungs 21 of the A-shaped frames I provide a cross member 22 having a downwardly extending slot 23 in the centre thereof. Across this slot I pivotally mount a spindle 24 having an orifice 25 therein into which the lower end of the rod 18 freely projects and 26 is a collar secured upon such rod intermediately of its height, a spiral spring 27 being interposed upon the shaft between such collar and the upper face of the spindle 24. The upper end of the rod 18 is pivotally connected to a pair of lugs 28 on the bottom upon the bag support the nozzle 9 is, of course,

inserted into the uppercorner orifice of thec sides of the bag and bag and the motor I14 started to actuate the screw conveyer 12 whereby the'material is delivered into `the bag. When the bag is placed empty upon the support and the nozzle inserted thereinto it is of a more or lesav fiat form as it 's and the closed upon the nozzle, but as the material enters the bag, such bag commences to swell and received from the factory .in doing so decreases in heightwhich brings its top mto-nearer contactwith the top of the nozzle.v If no adjustable vided in the support the bag would, when partly filled, swing from the nozzle thus putting a strain thereon and also upon the ba and prevent the ba 'being completely fille In my constructlon. however, as the bag receives the material the weight is increased,

passage of electric current to the motor.

The bag is then ready for delivery from the device and such delivery is obtained by pushing the supporting rod 18 rearwardly when it will assume the position illustrated in Fig. 3 and the bag support swings forwardly .delivering the filled bag therefrom on toa bench 29, or a conveyer bel "as thel case may be. The width of my bag upport is so proportioned to the width of the filled bag that the sides 8 constitute a support for the prevent it swelling to too great a width which of course, would also tend to bring the top of the bag into closer contact with the nozzle.

f My machine is also particularly adaptable or as such bags can be placed within the bag support and their tops folded back over the upper edges of the back portion 7 and the sidel members 8 thereof, and if necessary any suitable means such as a bracket may be provided upon one of the front edges of the side mem- When the filled bag has been delivered, the r0`d 18 is tilted forwardly so that its two sections go back into alignment and the bag support is returned to its orignial position when the device is now ready for the reception of another bag.

By the provision of the screw conveyer exmeans Were pIO,

op'of the bag does not rest use in filling ordinary open-topped bags tending to the open end of the nozzle, I have eliminated any possibility of the material becoming packed within the nozzle which might possibl. be the case if such conveyer only extende intermediately of the length of the nozzle, especially when granular material was being packed, and also by shaping the end of the nozzle as shown in the drawings, I provide a means whereby the delivered material vis prevented from heaping Within the bag. ,By shaping the'end of the nozzle in an angular direction I have also increased the area of the delivery orifice Without interfering with the length of the nozzle or the length of which projects into the bag, and also provided a means whereby the nozzle can be readily inserted into the orifice in the bad. J

lilly machine has been found particularly adaptable for bagging 4material known as acoustic plaster in which granulated pumice stone is contained as it in no way tends to break up the pumice granules and thus xspoil the acoustic qualities of the plaster as is the case inthe flipper type of machine in which the recurrent contact of the blades crushes the pumice; the bags are sides in a swinging motion so that no great strainsare put upon the corners of the bags as would be the case if the bags were dropped out of the machine upon their bottom edges.

From the foregoing description it willbe lapparent that I have constructed an extremely simple and efficient type of bag filling device which is capable of handling all classes of material and in which no strain is at any zle member projecting therefrom, a

filled.

time put upon the bag being filled, and furthermore by finally tilting the bag support downwardly for delivery I have provided a means whereby the bags can be automatically removed from the device without thenecessity of manually lifting them up as is the case in the type of device in which the bag is suspended from the nozzle, and although I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that I can make such changes and alterations as I may from time to time deem necessary without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims."

' What I claim as my invention is 1. In a bag filling device, ya hopper, a lrozulcrumed bag supporting member positioned underneath the nozzle, its rearward end being adapted to swing upwardly towards the noz'- zle as the bag contained thereon is being Furthermore, in my machine' delivered therefrom upon their'- ward and downward direction its rear end being adapted to swing upwardly against the resilient means under the increasing weight of the filling bag into a substantially horizontal plane, whereby the supported bag'swings forwardly and upwardly.

3..In a bag filling device, a hopper, a nozzle extending therefrom through which the bag is filled, a bag supporting platform resiliently inclined in a rearward direction swingably positioned underneath the nozzle and adapted toswing forwardly against the resilient means into a substantiallyliorizontal plane whereby the supported bag swings forwardly and upwardly, back and side members extending upwardly from the platform and against which the bag rests, and an elbow rod extending upwardly to support the platform on a substantially horizontal plane when the elbow and members are in alignment and to permit the platform to swing downwardly and forwardly' to deliver the "bag when such members are swung into anvtal plane, whereby the supported bag swings forwardly and upwardly, back and side members extending upwardly from the platform and against which the bag rests, and an elbow rod extending upwardly to support the platform on a substantially horizontal plane when the elbow rod members are in alignment| and to permit the platform to swing downwardly and forwardly'to deliver the bag when such members are swung into angular relation with one another.l

5. In a bag filling device, a hopper, a horizontal nozzle member projecting therefrom, a bag supporting platform fulcrumed underneath the nozzle, the fulcrumed point being rearwardly of the centre of the platform and the forward portion of the platform adapted to swing downwardly, and resilient means supporting the forward portion of the platform.

HENRY STINSON JOHNS.

2. In a bag illingdevice, 'a hopper, a nozzle extending therefrom and adapted to pro-v ject into the bag being filled, a. bagsupporting member swingably fulcrumed underneath the nozzleand resiliently inclined n a rear-` 

